A Visit to Chase Distillery

While work is underway on our major refurbishment, we’re using our time wisely and hunting out the very best local suppliers, fitting of a hotel in the heart of the Cotswolds.

We’ve bumped into staff from Chase Distillery before at a few of the shows we’ve attended over the last year. They’re based in Hereford and seemed to be just the sort of company we’d like to work with. After farming potatoes for 20 years, their founder Will Chase initially created the popular Tyrrells brand of crisps. When he sold that company, he moved into making vodka and gin, using potatoes grown on his own farm.

When Will’s son, James, offered us the chance to visit their distillery, we couldn’t say no.  After arriving on a chilly December day, we wrapped up warm and took a look around the fields where they grow the potatoes that serve as the base for their vodkas and gins. The brewing and packaging areas were very busy as the distillery was geared up for Christmas, but it was great to be able to see everything in action and find out exactly how much care and attention went into every product.

Chase Distillery has got some really unique products – like their marmalade vodka, which is made with fresh oranges and would make a delicious base for cocktails. We also liked the look of their extra dry gin, which we think would make great G&Ts, and the smoked vodka would be ideal for a truly unique tasting Bloody Mary. Plus, their packaging is cute, quirky and quintessentially British – it has just the look and feel we’ve been searching for from our suppliers, and we think that Chase products will not only look great behind our bar, but will allow us to make some really fantastic drinks.

We’re very grateful to James for taking the time to show us round, and we really enjoyed our visit. We’re looking forward to offering some great Chase products when we reopen, and we hope you’ll join us for a drink!